In a long term evolution (LTE) system, before sending an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) to user equipment (UE), a base station usually needs to send one or two EPDCCH configuration sets to the UE. The EPDCCH configuration set includes configuration information such as a transmission type of the EPDCCH and a quantity of physical resource blocks (PRBs) occupied by the EPDCCH. Specifically, the configuration information in the EPDCCH configuration set may indicate multiple candidate EPDCCHs, that is, a candidate EPDCCH set. According to a definition in the 3GPP TS 36.213 protocol, in one subframe (1 ms), each UE needs to monitor multiple candidate EPDCCHs and attempt to decode each candidate EPDCCH in a candidate EPDCCH set, until the UE correctly receives, on a candidate location, an EPDCCH sent by the base station in the subframe. The EPDCCH is any candidate EPDCCH in the candidate EPDCCH set.
However, a UE with relatively poor communication performance, such as a UE located in a basement, may fail to correctly decode and receive, in one subframe, an EPDCCH sent by a base station. Consequently, the UE may be unable to perform normal interaction with the base station in a relatively long time, and communication quality between the UE and the base station is reduced.